With Louisiana-Monroe getting their new head coach all settled, this year’s FBS college football coaching carousel appears to be slowing down and coming to a close. There are just two more spots to fill, for now.BYU and Georgia Southern are the last two schools with vacancies currently open at this moment.
BYU and Georgia Southern are the last two schools with vacancies currently open at this moment. BYU is reportedly meeting with Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo, who has explained why he might be interested in at least hearing what the school has to say about the job. Bronco Mendenhall is leaving BYU for Virginia but will remain in charge of the program through BYU’s bowl game matchup against Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl. Perhaps Mendenhall will give Niumatalolo his endorsement of the job on his way out, although it should be noted Niumatalolo has a pretty good situation already with the Navy program.
At Georgia Southern, the search is on to replace Willie Fritz, who has accepted a position as head coach at Tulane. For now, Dell McGee is taking on the role of interim head coach as Georgia Southern prepares for its first bowl game in program history, the GoDaddy Bowl against Bowling Green (who, coincidently is also undergoing a coaching change). Which direction the school goes from here remains unknown, whether it promotes from within from anyone who sticks around, finds an FCS coach ready to take the next step or finds an assistant coach from somewhere else ready to try their hand at head coaching.
These two spots are still left unfilled, but it remains to be seen just what could happen to open up another position or two. With the NFL season coming down its home stretch, the NFL coaching carousel figures to once again keep some college coaches in the discussion, whether legitimate or not. Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly and UCLA’s Jim Mora have been names mentioned before, and could very well be thrown around once more. Keep an eye on the NFL coaching changes, because until that is filled, the coaching carousel will continue to be in motion, just in case.